It has been a number of years since I posted about my family and some of the material has been brought up-to-date. My paternal great grandfather, OWEN (some records have him as EUGENE), McCARROLL (c. 1840 – 1895), came from the townland of Corkhill, in the parish of Clogher, County Tyrone. Of the Roman Catholic faith, he was baptized and buried in Eskragh’s St. Patrick chapel's graveyard, now in the Catholic parish of Eskra.
He married CATHERINE McCUSKER (or McCOSKER, as located in Griffith’s) in the Fintona R.C. Chapel, now St. Laurence, in the parish of Donacavey. Their marriage took place on 25 June 1867. When Owen and Catherine married, he was registered as Eugene - but he signed the register as Owen. Owen went by that name - probably because Eugene was his father’s name. This is the only record where he is shown as Eugene, in every other case he is recorded as Owen. While the records are hard to locate, it is made even more difficult to locate them for that reason.
Owen was the son of EUGENE and CATHERINE McCARROLL, who were also farmers. He was born about 1840 in Donacavey, and not in either Clogher or Eskragh parishes. We do not know just when Eugene and Catherine were married, nor do we know my great grandmother Catherine’s maiden name. And we are not sure where they farmed, but it is likely the Corkhill property.
My great grandmother was from the Irish townland of Augharonan, in Co. Tyrone, which was in the civil parish of Donacavey, as well as the Catholic parish of that name. She was married at “full age.”
Augharonan is nearer the market town of Fintona than is Corkhill or Eskra and her birth was sometime between1846 – 1851, depending on which documentary source is most accurate. We do know that Catherine McCusker's father was a farmer by the name of PATRICK McCUSKER, but have no knowledge of who her mother was as we could not locate any records of her mother’s name; but, it may very well have also been CATHERINE. There is a record of a Catherine passing away that could be the mother, but with little supportive information.
While the information is not definitive, it is known that a PAT McCUSKER of Augharonan died in 1868, without a will on file. Pat McCusker would have been born around 1813, and the name of the registrar’s informant indicates that there was also a JOHN MCCUSKER in the family.
We also know that Catherine had a number of siblings: possibly JOHN McCUSKER of Legamaghery, but little is known of him except that he was a single farmer. Another possible connection was a JANE McCUSKER who had married a THOMAS M’GARRITY of Augharonan. A Patrick Joseph McGARRITY from that townland was listed as a cousin at the funeral of my grandfather, Michael J. McCarroll in 1924; he may have been the son of Jane and Thomas.
Then there was JAMES McCUSKER, also of Augharonan, who was an unmarried farmer, aged 40 according 1911 census. But, as is the case with most old Irish records, there is a discrepancy here for this census lists Catherine as a 60 yr old widow while the 1901 census showed her as a 45 year old widow.
Owen and Catherine made their home in the 167 acre townland of Corkhill, farming on land rented from Hugh Gore Edwards. Their farmhouse was removed in 1982 by the DEVINEs, who then owned the land.
Owen and Catherine had at least seven children, all born at Corkhill. Each of the baptisms was actually located in the original church records in Clogher when viewed in 1982, but they were not found in the PRONI records in 1997. There is some discrepancy between the birthdates and the baptism dates, as recorded.
First was ELLEN, b. 1871, d. 1917, baptized 24 January 1871, who married ANDREW BOGAN, and they had seven children: TOMMY, OWEN, CHARLES, JACK, HUGH, CATHERINE and MARY.
PATRICK came next. He also known as “The Yank” or “The Madman” (according to Mrs. Tighe) who was born in 1873; he was baptized as PATRICK CARROLL on 7 March 1873. We don’t know when or where he died. He appears to have been buried in the family plot at Eskragh, or at least his death was noted on the headstone.
Then there was THOMAS, b. 1875, baptized 27 February 1875, who married CATHERINE (KITTY) DALY and emigrated to San Francisco, California, USA. Kitty was from the village of Newtownsaville in the townland of Tamlaght. They had four children, all born in San Francisco: PATRICK JOSEPH, HELEN, MARY and THOMAS. Tom was to stay in San Francisco and he went into business with his brother Michael for a number of years. The brothers had a grocery store at Central and Hyde streets in San Francisco, close to their residences on Central Avenue.
OWEN was born in 1877 and baptized 30 December 1877; he married BRIGID CONROY in Beragh. They lived in Curr and were closest to Catherine until she died in 1916. They had a number of children: THOMAS, MARY (who married Jack Donnelly from Curr), DYMPNA and KATHLEEN.
My grandfather was next: MICHAEL JOSEPH (MICKEY). He was born in 1879 and passed away in 1924 at Omagh. He was baptized either on 7 or 29 September 1879. Mickey left for San Francisco around 1899 but was to return to Ireland around 1912, and he was followed to Ireland by AGNES BRIDGID GAFFIGAN of San Francisco, California. They were married in Dundalk, County Louth, at St. Patrick’s church in1912; it occurred three days after Agnes arrived in Queenstown aboard the Celtic from America.
They lived in Omagh, County Tyrone, for a couple of years on George Street where my father was born. Then he became a publican/merchant in Fintona before he passed away and his wife Agnes Bridget returned with their children to San Francisco in 1924. They were MICHAEL JOSEPH, MARY CATHERINE (later changed to Maura), THOMAS LEO, BERNADETTE ANTHONY, and KEVIN BARRY.
Then there were two more children born to Owen and Catherine: Jane, in 1871 and baptized 18 July 1881; and Hugh, b. 1883, and baptized 20 December 1883. Both the unmarried children lived in Corkhill and were joined there by their mother Catherine upon the passing of Owen who remained until her death in 1916.

Owen had passed away at age 55 in Augharonan on 13 July 1895, with Catherine in attendance. Catherine was to survive for twenty more years when her son Owen registered her death on 8 September 1916 at age 68. She was buried in Eskragh R.C. (Eskra) graveyard with her husband, and some of her children.

The rest of the family, including my grandfather, are buried at St. Patrick's and the family headstone is one of the oldest in that cemetery - and all other Carrolls that have headstones there are named McCARROLLs, but one. Although Michael McCarroll became a Carroll in California when he later lived in Fintona he was known as a McCarroll. But there is a mysterious headstone in that cemetery for a PATRICK CARROLL who died in 1912; was he the “Mad Man” as the family called him because Pat had traveled back and forth to San Francisco? Because his name was added to the family plot, it is a mystery.

There is more, but this is a start and if there is anything that is wrong, or could be expanded upon, please comment.

Thank you, jjc